Possible Router Problem

I have an issue with certain webpages not loading (or loading but not all-the-way) that has me confused. I use Firefox and it started having trouble loading some webpages (about 30% of them) or loading them with several errors (pics not loading, etc). I tried IE7 and had the same problem. In fact, when my girlfriend tried viewing pics on MySpace

, the same pictures that wouldn't load on Firefox wouldn't load on IE7 either (on every page!!!). Weird, huh? I have two computers (one wired and one wireless) and they're both having the same issue. So I'm guessing that I have a router problem (maybe) but don't know how to begin troubleshooting. It might be important to mention that, even before I started using Firefox, my internet connection would stop functioning properly every couple of days and I would have to unplug both the modem and the router and plug them back in in order to fix the problem.

I have a Linksys Wireless Router (WRT54G) and a cable modem. I also have a static IP address if that matters. I had the same problem at my last apartment and was using the same setup back then. If there's any more information that I should give, let me know.

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Comments

tibul

Have you got the latest firmware update for your router?, is there any content filters/blockers on the router?

blargoe

It is either a problem with the router itself, your cable/dsl modem, or a problem that your ISP needs to fix.

First off, try to plug one of the computers directly into your internet connection (rather than going through the linksys router) and see if the problem persists. If it does then you need to check your router.

If the problem continues when you are directly connected to your cable/DSL modem, you need to call your ISP to employ their help in troubleshooting.

Good luck

malcybood

Has it ever worked properly?
Have you upgraded any software recently? (other than IE)
Was the router brand new out of the box?
Is it sites that have images that require either Java or flash plugins?
If you hook the PC directly into the cable modem and take the router out of the equation do you get the problem? (This will count the router out if you do still have a prob)

If the router was brand new and you set it up with the default settings, I doubt that it is the router. I deal with Linksys routers on my small sites and do not have this issue, I could be wrong though!

What Anti Virus Software do you have?

It may be a setting in the machine's local Firewall if you have either of the Norton Internet Security or Mcafee Internet Security Suites

You can also try the following, but if it doesn't work let us know your firewall/internet security suite setup:

- Delete temporary internet files by either navigating to
C:\Documents and Settings\Malcolm\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files and deleting all of the temp files in this folder.

OR

- In Internet Explorer 7 click Tools - Internet Options - Select Settings in the Browsing History section - View Files and delete all files in the folder

Then relaunch Internet Explorer (Doing this fixed a similar issue when I had a problem with images loading on web pages)

Edit

Also try upgrading youf flash plugin at http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash&promoid=BIOW

and installing Sun Java runtime software at
http://java.com/en/download/index.jsp

Cheers

Malc

malcybood

Found this on MS website which pretty much re-itterates my previous post:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/283807

Cheers

Malc

cusseta

I took the router out of the equation and everything worked fine. The router is brand new, but the settings are definitely NOT default due to the fact that Linksys tech support had me change a couple of things because I was trying to use a static IP address

. For instance, they had me check "Block Anonymous Internet Requests" which I was unsure about, but followed instructions anyway.

The firmware is current.
It has never worked perfectly, but that could definitely be my fault.
Router is brand new (out of the box).
It's not just Java/Flash plug-in sites.

If I go back to default settings on the router, will I need to retype all of my allowed ports (within Applications and Gaming)?

[/u]

tibul

yes if you reset the routers settings you will need to redo all the allowed ports etc

malcybood

Don't hard reset your router or you will lose your internet connection through the router!

There is a "web Filtering" utility in the Linksys router that you can either Block or Allow for the following:

Activex - Needed to display web pages
Java - Needed to display web pages
Cookies
Proxy

*****EDITED Post******

For web pages you need to enable all of these except "Proxy".

You need to find the "Web Filters" section on the reouter and allow these features. Here is the link that explains it:

http://web.mit.edu/ghudson/manuals/WRT54G-manual.pdf

The information you are looking for is on page 22 and explains about the above mentioned services. Changing this should not affect anything to do with your ISP settings as I imagine all they have done is setup port forwarding for you if you have a static IP/cable modem.

cusseta

I've introduced the router back into the network and all is well. I may post again if it starts "misbehaving", but for now it's working fine. Techexams.net... WOW! Oh, and thanks for the link to that Linksys manual, Malcybood!! That's definitely a keeper

malcybood

what was the problem?

was it the activex and java settings on the router?

no problemo!

cusseta

Well, I'm not sure what the problem was exactly. My ISP's tech support said that I might be having a problem because of the static IP address and that I shouldn't use static IP at all. I'm just gonna go back to DHCP and see what that does.

malcybood

Having a static IP address on your PC or laptop should have no ill effect at all unless it is conflicting with another device assigned the same IP address by DHCP or if another machine on the network had the same address assigned statically.

If you had assigned an incorrect DNS server address you would also get a problem, but I doubt it was that as you were able to hit websites just not get the images to display.

For info:

You can still assign static addresses with DHCP enabled just as long as it is outwith whatever you specify the DHCP address scope/pool to be on the router

i.e. if the DHCP address pool is 192.168.2.2 - 192.168.2.10 then you can assign static addresses from .11 - .254 on any device you want without issues..........well, definately shouldn't have browser issues anyway, again unless you assign the wrong DNS server!

Glad to hear it is working anyway and hope this helps you out

Malc

cusseta

Well, it's been maybe 8 hours and my internet connection has slowed down to a crawl. So I guess it isn't fixed after all. I just find it hard to believe that I have a faulty router. It works perfectly at 1st every single time and only starts to go bad after an hour or more. Whenever I try Linksys, they tell me to reset the damn thing (which I do) but that only fixes the problem for a short while.

emmajoyce

I dont know if this will help or not, i have a wireless router and two hardwired puters. I have time warner cable. Not too long after enjoying my new setup my browser got to where it wouldnt load pages fully. not all pages but some. I tried the usual fixes, clearing the internet files, increased my cache. Anyway, i called tw and they gave me the url of macromedia to clear out my flash cache. I clicked on the link, it made a few noises and my puter has been working great now. I believe you said you had dsl, but it could be a similiar problem. I had never even heard of clearing out your flash cache.
good luck

malcybood

It's a long shot, but how many machines do you have on your network? What is your ADSL connection? 0.5MB, 1MB? 2MB? Could be a bandwidth issue........For optimal performance we recommend the following for ADSL, approx:

0.5MB connection 1 - 2 PCs,
1MB approx 3 PCs,
2MB 2 - 4 PCs

Are the images loading, or is it just slow?

Does your ISP have a web portal that you can login to and do some broadband diagnostic testing yourself?

If you still get issues I would try doing a hard reset on the router. Make sure you take a note of the port forwarding settings and anything else you need to reconfigure. After the hard reset set it up as per linksys instructions you got with the router. By the sounds of it also, dont waste any more money phoning Linksys support or if you do as if you can have the call escalated passed the 1st line support guys!

cusseta

A have a cable access and only two machines (one wired and one wireless). I stopped Firefox from caching anything and I did the usual step of restarting the router. It's been over 12 hours and everything is working fine. Don't know what to think yet. We'll see.

TechJunky

Its the router. I HATE linksys. When I worked for an ISP I had customers complain about drop offs all the time, guess what their cominality was... Linksys Routers. My work actually had a linksys router for a testbed. We had the same problems. I replaced it with a Dlink and all our problems went away.

I spoke with an engineer at linksys actually, and he said that their past routers had major problems with routing tables filling up the cache on the router and killing it. He told me to unplug/replug and the problem would go away. He told me that their firmware fix was supposed to fix this issue....

This was back in 2002. But I still stay away from Linksys

I suggest Dlink to every customer who isnt willing to pay for Sonic wall or Cisco equipment.

tibul

TechJunky wrote:

Its the router. I HATE linksys. When I worked for an ISP I had customers complain about drop offs all the time, guess what their cominality was... Linksys Routers. My work actually had a linksys router for a testbed. We had the same problems. I replaced it with a Dlink and all our problems went away.

I spoke with an engineer at linksys actually, and he said that their past routers had major problems with routing tables filling up the cache on the router and killing it. He told me to unplug/replug and the problem would go away. He told me that their firmware fix was supposed to fix this issue....

This was back in 2002. But I still stay away from Linksys

I suggest Dlink to every customer who isnt willing to pay for Sonic wall or Cisco equipment.

Similar problem that happens with some netgear routers that i have used if you have over 200 connections at one time to the router i.e. using torrent apps, the connection would start going very slow even when not using torrents i had to restart the router every time to clear the connections from the cache and then it would work full speed like there was nothing wrong.

I now limit the possible connections with utorrent to only 200 max, which has completely solved the problem